Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

The Art of the CMA Returns with a New Playbook to Win Real Estate Listings in the AI Era

The Art of the CMA, Second Edition, is a practical field guide for real estate agents to create powerful presentations, win listings and grow their business in today’s challenging market.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Aug. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The US real estate market is rapidly evolving, driven by market forces and advancing technology. Consumers are challenged with affordability, supply constraints, and economic uncertainty.

Real estate agents face their own issues in this low-inventory, high rate scenario, including increased competition and rising operating costs. The Art of the CMA explores how real estate agents can stand out by using data and technology to enhance their own skills and experience.

Consumers have more data than ever. AI and automated tools generate home valuation estimates in seconds. To win listings in today’s dynamic environment, real estate agents must master data storytelling, communicate value, and build trust.

In addition to providing a proven playbook to master comparative market analysis (CMA) tools, the second edition includes updated modern valuation strategies, deeper insights into AI and automation, and practical techniques to help agents differentiate themselves and sell more homes.

“Technology can estimate property values, but only exceptional agents can create massive value for buyers and sellers,” said Greg Robertson, co-founder of W+R Studios and Giant Steps Advisors. “This updated edition is about helping real estate professionals use data more effectively while also strengthening the human side of the business — trust, storytelling, negotiation, and strategy.”
New research: 89.6% of agents say CMAs will be more relevant in the future.

A highlight of the second edition is the 2026 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Presentations, produced by Giant Steps Advisors and Lone Wolf Technologies.

This survey of 2,165 U.S. real estate professionals focuses on best practices for using CMAs and other technologies to create accurate valuations and winning listing presentations.


• In 2026, 89.6% of agents surveyed believe CMAs will be more relevant in the future, a 22-point jump from the 2020 survey.
• About 83% of real estate agents are open to AI-assisted CMA tools
• Over 90% of agents cite the MLS as their most trusted data source for comps
Rather than becoming less relevant in the age of AI and automation, CMAs appear to be gaining relevance for real estate agents. As the costs of marketing and lead generation rise, agents are paying more to get in front of qualified prospects. Creating an expert CMA helps agents make the most of their valuable time with clients.
The expanded second edition includes:
• A powerful three-step framework to win more listings
• Best practices to create AI-enabled CMAs and listing presentations
• Modern scripts, objection handling, and real estate storytelling
• New commentary on transparency, compensation, and consumer trust
• Original research to inform CMAs and listing presentations
• Expanded discussion of Zillow, iBuyers, and consumer expectations

The book is designed for:
• Residential real estate agents
• Brokers and team leaders
• Real estate coaches and trainers
• New agents entering the industry
• Experienced listing agents seeking differentiation
• Real estate professionals adapting to AI-driven consumer behavior

The second edition of The Art of the CMA is available now in paperback and digital formats. Complimentary copies and press kits are available to reviewers on request, and readers can:
Order the book at: The Art of the CMA — Official Website
Get a free sample chapter from the Art of the CMA
View the 2026 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Listing Presentations

About the book
The Art of the CMA is written by proptech innovator and founder Greg Robertson and marketing strategist Charles Warnock. The book presents a toolkit of business, growth, and technology strategies to help agents create a lasting competitive advantage in modern real estate. Industry leaders, brokers, coaches, and MLS organizations are encouraged to share the book with their networks as a training resource for agents competing in today’s market.

About the authors
Greg Robertson is a longtime proptech leader with more than 30 years of experience building real estate technology companies. At Giant Steps Advisors, Greg guides industry-leading clients through product strategy, business development, and go-to-market execution. He is co-founder of W+R Studios and a national speaker on real estate technology, data, and growth strategies. He is also publisher of the popular Vendor Alley blog and co-host of the podcasts Listing Bits and Industry Relations.

Charles Warnock is a growth marketer, content strategist, author, and tech journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Charles specializes in marketing strategy and assets for enterprise tech and SaaS companies. He has more than 20 years of experience in real estate, mortgage, proptech, and financial marketing. In addition to The Art of the CMA, he is the co-author of Future Ready: A Changemaker’s Guide to the Exponential Revolution. Learn more at charleswarnock.net.

What real estate leaders say about The Art of the CMA
“Outstanding — 34 years’ worth of wisdom presented with smarts and good humor. This book is a gift to any real estate professional that wants to think bigger.” — Brian Boero, CEO, 1000watt

“Greg has distilled over three decades of experience into a blueprint for you to make yourself a better real estate artist. It’s all laid out in a step-by-step format. It’s not just delivering a great CMA. It’s organizing your entire thought process around defining massive value for our clients.” — Sharran Srivatsaa, President of Acquisition.com

“All agents are not created equal. Those who constantly strive to understand and master their markets know the power of the modern CMA platform. It has become the key directional in better presentations, prospecting, and customer loyalty.” — David Charron, Executive Advisor and Former CEO of MRIS

“Greg Robertson and Dan Woolley’s dedication and creativity have enabled them to expand the boundaries of the CMA beyond a presentation tool to a prospecting tool — and a customer-for-life tool. This is a book of tips, checklists, and frameworks designed to help agents win. Learn the Art of the CMA today!” — Victor Lund, Founding Partner, WAV Group; CEO, RE Technology

Media Contact:

Charles Warnock, SF Marketing Labs, 1 408-334-5979, cw@charleswarnock.net, https://charleswarnock.net/
SOURCE The Art of the CMA

Introducing the MLS Channel Field Guide from Giant Steps

We Built the Field Guide We Wish We Had 20 Years Ago

If you’re a proptech company trying to sell into the MLS channel, you already know the basics: it’s complex, it’s slow, and nobody picks up the phone.

What you might not know is exactly how complex, how slow, and why nobody picks up the phone. That’s the part that takes years to figure out. We know, because we spent decades figuring it out ourselves.

Today we’re announcing something we’ve been working on for a while: The MLS Channel Field Guide.

I spend a lot of time speaking to new vendors and other vendors who may have been selling directly to brokers or agents who were curious about partnering with the MLS channel as a way for distributing their product. I’ve distilled all those conversations in to a presentation which I think does a great job of informing anyone new to the space. If you interested please go read the full blog post on the Giant Steps Advisors website and Let’s Talk.

Giant Steps offers free “Pre-marketing Listing Toolkit”

We Built a Pre-Market Listings Toolkit for MLS Leaders. Here’s Why — and It’s Yours.

“If you’ve been following the real estate industry over the past year, you know the conversation around private listings and pre-marketing has moved fast. Zillow Preview, the Compass-Redfin partnership, eXp’s deals with Homes.com and Realtor.com — it feels like the landscape shifts every few weeks. And if you’re an MLS executive or board member trying to brief your leadership team on what’s happening, keeping materials current is its own full-time job.

We know because we’ve been living it.

At Giant Steps, we work with MLS organizations and proptech companies navigating exactly this kind of complexity. Over the past several months, we’ve been fielding the same questions from clients and colleagues: What’s the difference between a pocket listing and a private listing? How does Zillow Preview actually work? What does this mean for my MLS?

So we decided to build a set of materials that any MLS organization can use to get their board and leadership up to speed — quickly, clearly, and without spin…


Head over to the Giant Steps Advisors blog to download the PDFs

MLS Reset 2026: Early bird pricing ends soon!

MLS Reset is all about getting back to what made Scottsdale in February special—real conversations, real connections, and none of the gatekeeping.

We’re taking over the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Feb 9–11, 2025, and bringing together MLS execs, staff, vendors, portals, and proptech players for great storytelling, straight talk and fresh ideas. No invite-only lists, no awkward vendor conflicts—just an open, affordable event where the MLS community can reset, recharge, and maybe even sneak in a round of golf, some pickleball, or a desert hike.

If you care about the future of MLS, this is where you need to be.

Early bird pricing ends August 31st, and don’t forget to book your hotel room, the Scottsdale Plaza sells out every year.

Click here to register and for more details => MLSReset.com

ARMLS adds Cloud CMA as a member benefit

Lone Wolf Technologies partners with Arizona Regional MLS

“In any market, and especially in one where buyers and sellers may not be entirely sure of what they can expect, it’s imperative for real estate agents to be able to demonstrate that they know and understand what’s happening,” said ARMLS’s James Marcus in a statement. “With this new Cloud CMA benefit from Lone Wolf, our agents will have a key resource in showing clients the expertise that will set them apart from the competition.”

ARMLS

What I think a lot of people forget is that Cloud CMA can be used as a lead generation tool. Congrats to Lone Wolf and ARMLS.

Giant Steps announces two industry veterans to join company.

GIANT STEPS ANNOUNCES TWO INDUSTRY VETERANS, DAN WOOLLEY AND OHAN ANTEBIAN, TO JOIN COMPANY

Dan Woolley partners with Greg Robertson in the recently launched company and Ohan Antebian joins as principal advisor.

COSTA MESA, Calif.,  May 2 – Giant Steps, a new consulting firm that promises to help entrepreneurs and real estate companies accelerate their journey to success, today announced that Dan Woolley will join Greg Robertson as a partner in Giant Steps Company, LLC.  Ohan Atenbian will also join the company.  Both will join existing advisors Greg Robertson and Staci Wood.

“I’m beyond thrilled to have Dan join me on this latest iteration of our 30-year partnership,” stated Giant Steps founder Greg Robertson.  “Dan’s experience and technical know-how will give our clients a distinct advantage,” Robertson continued.

Also joining Giant Steps is industry veteran Ohan Antebian.  Ohan holds an MBA and brings with him 20 years of experience in the organized real estate space. “Ohan has worked in numerous positions in the industry, giving him invaluable insight into business models, operations and valuations of some of real estate’s top companies,” concluded Robertson.

Greg, Staci and Ohan will be attending the 2024 REALTORS Legislative Meeting in Washington D.C. from May 4th to May 8th.  To schedule a meeting or for more information on Giant Steps please visit https://GiantStepsAdvisors.com

About Giant Steps

Giant Steps is founded on the principle of giving back and helping other entrepreneurs and real estate companies accelerate their journey to success.  Greg Robertson and Dan Woolley are serial entrepreneurs with over 30 years experience in founding bootstrapped companies and creating award winning products being used by hundreds of thousands of real estate professionals. 

Contact

Greg Robertson
Founder/Principal Advisor
Greg@GiantStepsAdvisors.com

Vendor Alley Sponsorships open for 2024

Vendor Alley Sponsorships are now open for 2024. I haven’t promoted that I’m selling sponsorships for 2024 yet but organically companies have reached out and I’ve already sold 3 months. These are all repeat customers.

To see what months are left please visit here.

Sponsorships on Vendor Alley are for a full month.  You get your logo on the site all month.  Plus I write a “thank you” post every week during that month (4 total).  You can just send me the copy you want to post, or I can take your copy and write it in my own voice.  Totally up to you.

Here’s an example

I have close to 900 industry people that are signed up to receive email alerts every time I post something.  So those email recipients will see your posts at least 4 times during that month.

Also, I’m doing a couple new things this year…

A site redesign. I’m going super minimal this time and it’s going to make your ad pop.

It will also include a super cool “dark mode“.

Also I’m including an interview on my Listing Bits podcast.  So that is something else you are can promote and I will also post it on my blog,  giving you effectively 5 posts during that month. Keep in mind I’m still going to do other Listing Bits podcasts along with these sponsored ones.

Here’s an example.

Total cost of sponsorship is $6,000.

I expect the remaining sponsorship slots to go fast. If you are interested reach out to me at gregrobertson@gmail.com and I will send you an invoice which will also serve as an insertion order.  First come first serve.

Thanks for your support.

So proud of this guy

My son Toby would really appreciate your support. They have some tasty popcorn choices available, click this link to support him and his Troop #319 => Toby Robertson Scout Fundraiser

Less software?

Next week Lone Wolf Technologies will reveal its new platform at the T3 Technology Summit, and I’m super excited about it. Why? Let me tell you a story.

At W+R Studios we were bootstrapped, so we needed to grow organically. Our product strategy centered around making core features of an MLS system better.

CMAs on MLS systems suck? Let’s make a better one. Enter Cloud CMA.

MLS system’s client portals and listing alert emails are ugly. Let’s make them pretty (and easier to use). Voilà , Cloud Streams.

Searching on MLS systems too complicated? Let’s make something simple. Boom, Cloud MLX!

The problem was two fold. In order to grow we needed to add new products (more software) and at the end of the day is that we had 3 different software apps, each of them great in their own right, but they didn’t really work together. Also if you wanted all three you had to buy each one separately, and have 3 separate logins, and 3 separate onboarding scenarios, 3 different times you entered a credit card number, and 3 separate…you get the point.

We solved most of this by creating the “Cloud Agent Suite“, but really only scratched the surface of what was possible, then we were acquired in December 2020.

So this problem of “simplifying real estate” has been on the minds of our (W+R) design team for a very long time. How do we bring all of this together to create an end to end solution that makes sense, and still grow? Can “less software” be the answer?

Turns that the problem was about to get bigger. Starting in 2020 Lone Wolf acquired 5 companies in 9 months (including W+R); HomeSpotter, LionDesk, Terradatum and Propertybase. Now you had 9 (at least) separate logins, 9 separate… you get the point.

Sean Wheeler, CTO Lone Wolf
Sean Wheeler, CTO Lone Wolf

When I left Lone Wolf I was starting to see the green shoots of this work. Most of it on the backend led by Sean Wheeler, Lone Wolf’s CTO. One login, one credit card, one database of contacts for all products, etc. Jimmy Kelly, Lone Wolf’s CEO, talked about their effort and the concept of “less software” on a post on Inman News titled “Real Estate Doesn’t Need More Software“. I was also privy to see some of the earlier mock ups from the design group, which were super impressive.

Jimmy Kelly, CEO Lone Wolf
Jimmy Kelly, CEO Lone Wolf

But, like any good meal it all comes down to ingredients. Lone Wolf from my estimation has the best ingredients in the market. The products they acquired (and the teams behind them) are not only best of class but have high adoption rates and great partnerships. Now it comes down to presentation and taste. And I have full confidence in the design chops of the team behind this. I had a chance to interview, Damien Huze, who was W+R’s Chief Design Officer and now a principal designer at Lone Wolf on my Listing Bits podcast which should drop this week.

Damien Huze, Principal Designer Lone Wolf
Damien Huze, Principal Designer Lone Wolf

Am I biased? Absolutely. Am I still a fan of simple focused software applications? You betcha. But I’m a bigger fan of people. So I look forward to seeing how this particular group of talented people proves less software is better.

Calling all you D&D fans

My son Cole just completed his senior project. He is part of the Center for International Business and Communication Studies (CIBACS) at his high school. His project was to create a business with a product to market and sell. This week he finished the project and I couldn’t be more proud.

He wrote a book, “The Terrific Tome for Travelers”, technically it’s a “5E Supplemental Book” for Dungeons & Dragons. He got into D&D over the pandemic and played it over Zoom with his friends and later in our garage. He commissioned artists, wrote over 22,000 words, came up with new characters, and designed the layout, it’s amazing!

It’s a great adventure where players try and help the people of the city of Drakai to overcome evil politicians with supernatural abilities, including the mysterious Dr. Anthrax (Dr. A).

Cole Robertson

He set up a website as part of the project and is now ready to take orders. It’s only $19.99 and you’ll get a PDF delivered instantly. He is also doing some cool things with video as supplemental content to the book, but you’ll have to order to see that content.

His final presentation is this Saturday so I’m trying to help him get as many orders as I before his presentation.

So if you are a big D&D player yourself or know anyone else who is, please visit the site and order your copy today. And please share with any other people you know that might be interested.

Order “The Terrific Tome for Travelers” today at ====> Sunbound Studios

Thanks again for your support!

Sponsored By FBS